003: Diethel, Lyserg Diethel
by Lavenian
Summary: Guns, action, thrills, a little love and drama, suspense, and a certain green-haired British super-spy. What more could you want?
1. Chapter 1

**003: Diethel, Lyserg Diethel**

Disclaimer: Genies do not come out of pepsi bottles

Several boats carrying numerous police officers sped through Hong Kong bay, its passengers looking keenly upon a rather decrepit Chinese Junk which had anchored in the middle of their waters.

Once they had reached the vessel, all they found were silent, empty decks with no signs of any human activity.

The men proceeded into the holds, where they found a rather curious door. They quickly assembled next to it, and once they were arranged in proper fashion, one of the men turned the knob quickly, and at once the men pointed their guns inside.

"Freeze, Police!" Unfortunately, all they found was a bomb and three seconds left, "Oh my G--!"

Too late, had they realized it was a trap, and soon the Junk was engulfed in an inferno, taking with it several men and leaving many more grievously wounded.

Upon the road overlooking the bay, a limousine's rear window opened, and a pair of eyes framed by sunglasses peered at the mess caused by the ship's destruction.

His cellphone came to life and quickly he answered it, "Yes, they fell for it flawlessly, that should keep the cops off our back for a little while. Yes sir, I'll be back within the hour."

**(Cue Intro)**

**Starring:**

**Lyserg Diethel **as _003 (aka Himself)_

**Iron Maiden Jeanne **as _The Diethel Girl_

**Tao Ren **as _The Evil Genius_

**Tao Men **as _The Evil Companion_

**Horokeu Usui & Chocolove McDonell **as _The Evil Henchmen_

**Meene Montgomery **as _Lyserg's Boss_

**Guest Starring:**

My own OC: _Agent Fenghuang_

**(Without further ado, let the show begin)**

Britain: Home of the Union Jack, Shepherd's Pie, the English Language, Big Ben, and everyone's favorite Celtic warlord-turned-Hero-King, Arthur.

Today was a great day, for the time of a new hero was upon us, one of British blood, to be tempered by the flames of adversity, one who bore tinges of green, and a handsome countenance that would put Adonis himself to shame.

As of now, he was currently at his favorite gentlemen's club, playing a nice game of cards and gambling with his entourage.

One of the other men spoke up in commendation at his skill in their game, "You seem quite well-acquainted with this game, Mister--?"

He graciously finished that statement, "Diethel, Lyserg Diethel."

The man continued, "Well, Mister Diethel, would you care for another round?"

Lyserg, however, had to decline, "Alas, no, my occupation rarely allows me the time to enjoy such pleasures, perhaps next Friday? When I'm not too busy?"

The others in the club nodded politely, allowing Lyserg to excuse himself for now, though not before having one last shot of vodka.

The next day, Lyserg sat down at his dining table at home, having a breakfast of ham, toast, kippers and some orange juice all while watching episodes of "Mr. Bean" on the television, "Ha ha, you really know the best medicine, Mister Atkinson."

Just then, Lyserg's mobile rung across the room, Lyserg reached for it and began talking with the person contacting him.

(A quick note, "mobiles" are what Britons call "cellphones," or even occasionally just "phone," in case you didn't know.)

It was Meene, no doubt with another assignment for him, "Hello, Lyserg, I have a job for you."

Lyserg worked for an independent investigation and espionage company, known as **EXIT** (Which stood for "**EX**ecutive **I**nves**T**igations"), led by Meene Montgomery, who formed the group out of dissatisfaction for her time in the Canadian Special Forces, due to insubstantial salary and corruption in their ranks.

"I'll be there in a jiffy," Lyserg got dressed and quickly drove on his specially-designed, custom-crafted Koenigsegg CCX, and quickly drove through London, finally arriving at Meene's office.

Hoisting his coat up on the hanger, Lyserg greeted his boss, "Good morning Meene, how was your sunrise?"

Meene gave a light sigh, "Oh it's been better."

Lyserg folded his arms together, "Anyway, what's our job this time? Retrieving kittens up a tree with planes that can barely fly?"

"Ha ha, no, and why would we do that? That's the army's job. Anyway, this next assignment, as our contact has so graciously elaborated for us, will apparently be bringing us to the good ol' Far East."

"Ah, the Orient, I've always wanted to try their dishes, and take in the sights. Anymore details I should know about this job?"

"You'll know when you get there, our client has already made the necessary preparations for when you arrive. As for me, I've already prepared for your flight to take you there."

"How much are we being paid for this one?"

"70,000 pounds, which is why I'd leave a job with that kind of reward to one of our more 'capable' agents, do you understand?"

"Of course Meene, I will handle everything."

Lyserg traveled the great world distance from London and arrived at Hong Kong, once there Lyserg started looking through the crowd to find the client he was supposed to meet, until he caught sight of a man holding a sign bearing his name.

Lyserg approached him, "Excuse me sir, are you my client?"

The man nodded, "And you must be the agent they sent, all right, please come this way sir."

Lyserg followed this person out of the airport, but took the time to observe him, he had gray-white hair and a goatee, and he wore a white Boss of the plains hat, white coat, white, long khaki pants, heck his whole attire was white save for his round sunglasses, black fingerless gloves, and black, polished shoes. To Lyserg, he looked something like a Triad gangster, but he stuck out like a sore thumb, "Mind if I ask your name, sir?"

The man in white turned to Lyserg, "Ho ho, I cannot tell you my real name, but you may call me 'Fenghuang,' it's dangerous to reveal any personal information about yourself in Hong Kong these days."

Lyserg raised an eyebrow, "This undoubtedly has to do with the job you've offered us?"

"Quite so, I will explain more along the way." After exiting the terminal and into open air, Lyserg and Fenghuang called for a taxi to take them to Lyserg's lodgings.

Lyserg turned to Fenghuang and resumed their conversation, "So, mind filling me on the details of this assignment?"

"Recently, there has been an unexpected increase in the black market sale and distribution of illegal drugs and narcotics. China is suffering from a flourish of opium, heroin and other vile nasties seeping into the country, and that's not the worst of it."

Lyserg asserted himself, "How bad could it possibly be?"

"Our search to put down this trade has led to nowhere up to now, last week, a group of our officers were caught in a trap that cost most of their lives, and about the only thing we know is that the number of addicts is increasing to enormously dangerous levels. Wherever the mastermind behind all this is, he's definitely making a lot of cash, and ruining many more lives."

After arriving at their destination: A posh hotel, Fenghuang ordered for Lyserg the penthouse suite as his quarters during his stay in Hong Kong, paying for all the expenses and luxuries for him too.

The two men ascended up the elevator and arrived in the penthouse, it was as Lyserg had expected it to be. Fenghuang told him that if he needed anything, he can call the hotel service from the telephone, Fenghuang also gave him a card with his contact number, in case Lyserg needed something or wanted to tell him anything important.

After a brief exchange of farewells, Lyserg took the time to settle in his new surroundings. It was a beautiful room with a comfortable living room, a widescreen TV, an elaborately decorated mahogany dining table, a swimming pool and a king-sized bed. He reached for the telephone and ordered for something to drink.

"I'd like a Bloody Mary, shaken, not stirred, and put some ice with it, if you please."

That night…

A stranger opened the door to Lyserg's bedroom, seeing his prey lie soundly on his resting spot, the stranger raised his gun and shot at him four times, afterwards, he carefully approached the lump under the blanket with green hair sticking on top.

Everything seemed to be going well, until a shot struck his leg.

The stranger stumbled to the ground, grabbing his leg which had been shot and groaning in pain, the lights suddenly came alive, and the stranger looked to see none other than Lyserg himself, having waited beside the door for this very moment, "Even after just arriving here, I suspected I would get something like this."

The stranger attempted to regain his weapon, but Lyserg shot at his wrist before he could get there, and the man reeled back in pain, and then the Brit called upon him sternly, "Who do you work for?"

The stranger sat upright on the floor, "You don't know who you're messing with, Brit, leave Hong Kong now or you'll be sorry."

Lyserg remained firm, with his gun at the ready, "I don't take orders, or threats for that matter, lightly, especially if it isn't my boss, or if I've been marked for death, now answer me: who do you work for?"

The stranger bent his head and mumbled something under his breath, "You'll be sorry."

Lyserg then noticed a crunching sound in his mouth, and quickly he rushed to him, "What, hey, stop!" Too late, the man killed himself rather than be captured, a cyanide capsule having waited in his mouth.

"Damn it…"

Morning…

Lyserg came to Fenghuang's office, and they began discussing the events which transpired last night, "An assassin? That must have been harrowing." said Fenghuang.

"Not really, although I am curious as to how they've known where I'd be so soon, you didn't send him, did you?"

Fenghuang raised his arms in defense, "I assure you, Mister Diethel, I'm a man of my word, this is perhaps an indication that whoever we're dealing with, his treachery runs deep, this is the kind of 'dangerous' I informed you about yesterday at the airport."

Lyserg slumped back in his seat, "So I see, in any event, I pulled this out from that guy before they took him to the morgue." Lyserg presented a wallet, and Fenghuang took it and began examining its contents, one of the items inside piqued his interest, "Ah, what is this?"

"What is it?"

"It looks like that assassin worked as a bouncer at a local nightclub: _The Pearl of Ceylon_, he must have been so certain that he could have accomplished his mission, he didn't think to remove any indication of who he was or who he worked for, even if he committed suicide, he had unwillingly helped us either way."

"I guess we'll take this as a lead?"

"We don't have anything else to go for, so why not?"

Later that night, Lyserg dressed in much more formal attire, black trousers, white tuxedo coat, bowtie, the whole works, while Fenghuang merely dressed as he always did, he felt perplexingly comfortable in them.

The two agents approached _The Pearl of Ceylon_ cautiously, they spotted a patron coming near the door, a sliding peep opened, and the patron presented ten Hong Kong dollars to the man viewing him, the bouncer quickly let him in after that.

Fenghuang moved closer towards the door, "Well, I suppose this is it, we're going in."

Fenghuang knocked on the door, the bouncer looked at the two men, "You look new, ten dollars and I'll let you in."

After presenting the cash, Lyserg and Fenghuang entered the edifice, inside they were greeted by young patrons and flashing lights, cool music, and the chatter of friends and lovers over a spot of tea and beverage.

The two men decided to have a drink and see how things play out first; the barkeep approached them as they took their seats, "What can I get you?"

"I'll have some green tea." said Fenghuang.

Lyserg turned to her, "I'd like a Bloody Mary, shaken, not stirred, and put some ice with it, if you please."

So far, nothing happened, at least, until a Negro walked in, with an afro, sunglasses, and a cream-white suit.

Lyserg pointed towards him, "Who's that?"

Fenghuang looked at the afro man's direction, "Oh, that's Chocolove McDonell."

"Anything I should know about him?"

"He's a patron here, a standard regular, he's on good terms with the owner if I'm not mistaken."

"Hm… Fenghuang, do you mind if I uh, go to the men's bathroom do you?"

Fenghuang suspected Lyserg was on to something, so he played along, "Sure, take your time."

Lyserg departed for the men's room, he observed each cubicle, and found one with a ventilation shaft right above it. Entering, he locked the door behind him and used his screwdriver in his Swiss army knife to open the shaft, and traveled through the narrow passage.

After a while, he finally found the owner's office, and Chocolove came in too.

The owner graciously addressed Chocolove, "Mister McDonell, it's nice to see you here again."

"Can it, Shao, I'm here to check on the goods."

Shao gave Chocolove a ledger from his safe, "As you can see, we've doubled our sales of heroin in the past few weeks."

"I can see that, all I'm here for is to make sure you guys stay in line, you dig?"

Shao was perspiring in uneasiness, "But of course sir! We'd never, ever let the boss down!"

"Good, just remember, keep the stuff flowin', and the money goin', and maybe we'll give you a promotion… maybe."

"Yes sir!"

Chocolove tossed the ledger on Shao's desk, and abruptly left the room.

Shao slumped back in his chair, Chocolove was a very dangerous guy, he was glad he didn't have to go through that anymore, "I need a drink." Shao walked out of the room afterwards.

Lyserg quietly descended from the ventilation shaft. He carefully began examining the ledger and its contents; afterwards, he took out his button camera and started taking some photos of each page, "This is gonna be juicy."

The next day…

Fenghuang and Lyserg began sifting through the evidence they uncovered yesterday, although a record of the villain's drug trafficking activities wasn't that helpful, at the very least they found something to work with.

Fenghuang commented on their staggering amount of sales, "I've sorely underestimated the full extent of their operations, they're working nearly everywhere, and China's not the only one that's been hard-hit."

Lyserg arranged the pictures and placed them on the desk, "Do you know anything about that McDonell guy? Any sort of information?"

"Well… the only thing we know is that he was believed to have been involved in the New York crime upheaval from way back, but other than that, he's since gained Chinese citizenship, ever since he started working for him."

"And who is this 'him?'"

Fenghuang tossed him a magazine showing a Chinese man, with golden eyes (Ohh, golden eyes, Golden Eye, hehe) and an unusual hairstyle with a prominent spike.

"That's mister Ren Tao: Founder, President, and CEO of the Tao Exporting Company. Ever since the mainland has been pressing forward its 'Modern Way' programme, Mister Tao was requisitioned by the government to lead the charge. Ever since, China's exports of consumer goods have increased within but a year, not only that, Mister Tao has also secured for China a friendly relation with the members of OPEC, allowing us access to at least 42% of their oil. With all these things he's done for us, China has been placed on the cutting edge of finance."

Lyserg examined Ren's picture sternly, "That's quite a success story."

"You don't think he has any connection to all this?"

"That, or Chocolove is working for someone else right under his nose, but either way, I want to investigate this Tao Ren person."

Fenghuang reclined on his chair, popped open a can of beer, and resumed talking, "Well, I suppose there is one way we might get close to him."

"And that would be?"

"He is celebrating his wife's birthday tomorrow, here in Hong Kong, I've heard there's a special hotel he always reserves for such public occasions, I might be able to scare up an invitation for us; maybe we can get close to him then."

Lyserg contemplated the idea, "Sounds a little risky, but then again, I like a little risk. This could be our only chance to do so as well."

Fenghuang reached for his telephone and started dialing a number, "I'll get started on that right away."

Next day…

Lyserg and Fenghuang arrived at the hotel in question, after presenting their invitations and seating in the ballroom, they were given some appetizers by the hotel valets.

Lyserg commended the room's appearance, "Mister Ren certainly has a very artistic Oriental taste, I kind of like this place."

"That's because he actually ordered it to be built, his styles are reflected in his property."

"I see, it pays to be a multi-millionaire tycoon I suppose." Suddenly, the lights of the room went out and a single spotlight focused on a host who entered the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he announced, "I am proud to formally introduce today's guests of honor: Mister Tao Ren!"

The multi-millionaire stepped forth from a nearby door and was now the center of attention. Lyserg commented his appearance, "His hair spike looks even longer in person."

Ren started addressing the people gathered, "Ahem, good afternoon to you all, I'd like to express my gratitude to you all for coming here on this special occasion, really, I am. Now then, I'd like to present to you, my darling wife and son: Jeanne and Men!"

Just then two more people entered the ballroom, a young man with silver hair and crimson red eyes, apparently shared Ren's sense of hairstyle, as he too possessed a spike from his hair.

But what really caught Lyserg's attention, was Ren's wife. As soon as he laid eyes on her, well, they nearly popped out of his sockets, "Whoa, what a beauty."

Fenghuang nudged his friend, "Easy Lyserg, she may be quite the eye-opener, but she's a married woman, don't forget that."

"I understand that, Fenghuang, but really, I cannot help but appreciate the splendor of the fairer sex, even if she may very well be a forbidden fruit."

The party began with a short dance between Ren and Jeanne, the two danced elegantly on the ballroom floor, with some soothing, classical music playing by a dedicated group of performers.

Lyserg watched Jeanne with a keen interest, his eyes mystified by her beauty. It was truly hypnotic, when Lyserg looked upon beautiful women, he usually felt a pang of naughty pleasures occasionally invade his mind, but this was different, Lyserg felt a unique sensation, a tug of temptation which began picking at his mind, reality was lost to him as his thoughts were drowned by her.

Lyserg knew this meant only one thing, "She's special."

Lyserg did not realize he had spoken it somewhat audibly, and Fenghuang turned to him curiously, "How so?"

Lyserg quickly broke into stuttering, "Uh, erm… hmm, ah, she… moves very gracefully, that is to say."

Fenghuang regarded it for a moment, soon a devious smile shaped on his lips, "Lyserg, do you know how to dance?"

"Oh, well, yes, I know some ballroom dance."

"Good enough."

As soon as Ren and Jeanne finished their little tango, everyone else dug in to eat, while some of them entered the dance floor to try their own little number and outdo their hosts.

Fenghuang stood up from his seat and approached the couple who sat at the main table, Lyserg watched him approach the couple and tried to call out to him, "Fenghuang, what are you doing!?"

Fenghuang came face-to-face with the Tao couple, "Excuse me Mr. Tao, but may I have a moment of your time?"

Ren regarded him when he presented himself, "Why no, not at all. What brings you here sir?"

"Well, to be honest sir, my friend over there finds your wife to be a very skillful dancer, and he couldn't help but want to demonstrate some of his own talent as well, but he wishes for an 'equally' talented person to be his partner."

"Hm… what do you think Jeanne?"

Jeanne looked at the green-haired Brit sitting at the table where Fenghuang pointed at, she considered him to be a bit attractive, "Hmm… I suppose I could spare time for another go, what say you, Ren?"

Ren thought about it briefly, it would've been just a simple dance, nothing more, "Oh why not?"

Fenghuang returned to Lyserg's side, and the latter seemed somewhat exasperated, "Why would you want me to dance with her? Are you forgetting our mission?"

Fenghuang calmly reassured him, "Don't make such a fuss, I've planned everything out, but for now I need you to cooperate with me on this one, just dance for as long as you possibly can, I'll handle the rest."

Lyserg felt a bit apprehensive, yet, he was also resignedly relieved, not because of Fenghuang, but because of his chance to be close to such a foxy lady.

Fenghunag walked out of the ballroom to make his preparations, leaving Lyserg to deal with Jeanne. Taking a deep breath, he casually strolled to where she was standing near the ballroom, "Missus Jeanne, you look breathtaking."

Jeanne felt somewhat amused by his statement, "Flattery will get you anywhere."

"I do not jest in the face of true beauty when I see it, but shall we move to the dance floor?"

"Enchanté."

Lyserg and Jeanne stepped into the ballroom, "_Vous parlent en français, Monsieur Lyserg?_"

(Translated: Do you speak French, Monsieur Lyserg?)

"_Oui, Mademoiselle._"

The two danced gracefully in a rigid, yet elegant tango which caught the eye of all within the room, even Ren, who liked this display, "That man moves very gracefully, doesn't he, Men?"

"Indeed father."

Lyserg and Jeanne moved to and fro across the room, all eyes fixed on their transcending tango, "_Mon mari est un homme si se précipitant, mais vous n'êtes aucun slouch vous-même, Monsieur Lyserg._"

(Translated: My husband is such a dashing man, but you are no slouch yourself, Monsieur Lyserg.)

"_Est qui ce qui ils toute la parole, Mademoiselle._"

(Translated: That is what they all say, Mademoiselle.)

After a few more minutes of dancing, Lyserg and Jeanne ended it with a lovely pose which won the applause of the audience, Jeanne turned to Lyserg, her eyes brimming with a sense of contentment, "_Je n'ont tellement merveilleusement jamais dansé avant, merci Monsieur._" Jeanne respectfully curtsied before him.

(Translated: I've never danced so wonderfully before, thank you Monsieur.)

Lyserg followed with a bow, "_Et je n'ai vers le haut jamais dansé comme celui jusqu'ici aussi bien, vous me déplace avec la grace de Venus._"

(Translated: And I have never danced like that up until now as well, you move with the grace of Venus.)

Jeanne smiled pleasantly, "Hmm, I suddenly feel a bit vibrant right now, Monsieur, would you care, perhaps, for another dance later?"

"I am not sure," Lyserg then noticed Fenghuang re-enter the room, "Oh, excuse me one moment, Missus."

Lyserg quickly approached Fenghuang, "There you are, so what were you doing this whole time?"

"While you were busy cascading on the dance floor, I had bugged Mr. Ren's room, I also put in a hidden camera to spy in on his room, as well, so what's happening on your end?"

"Missus Jeanne asked me to have another dance with her in a little while, what should we do?"

"Hm… tell her that you will accept her offer, in the meantime, we can spy on Ren's room and see if he has anything of interest, I had to bug the place quickly in case someone else came in so I had no time to be thorough."

Lyserg returned to Jeanne, "Well, mademoiselle, it looks like I may take up your offer after all, let's have another go in a little while then?"

Jeanne nodded, "Of course, in any event I need to freshen up a little bit, you don't mind do you?"

"Please, take your time, I also have some minor business to attend to as well."

Lyserg and Fenghuang returned to their vehicle, a van, parked outside the hotel. Inside, several devices and monitors were alive doing their business, Fenghuang was looking over the screen displaying the Tao's room, so far, nothing happened just yet.

Lyserg came back in the van with some French fries and pepsi, "Anything happen yet?"

"Not yet, how about you take a look? I need to make a phone call."

"All right."

Lyserg started shifting around the room, waiting for something to happen, just then, Jeanne came into the room, she flourished her platinum hair and began undressing.

Lyserg's eyes perked as he saw Jeanne casually remove her dress, t'was a shame Lyserg only had view of her backside though. Lyserg turned back to Fenghuang, who was at the front seat talking with somebody on his phone, Lyserg quietly resumed observing Jeanne, who started performing some stretches and exercise in the room. Lyserg observed her with a keen interest, she looked so pale and fragile, but she was also full of strength and youthful energy that defied, and perhaps complimented, her fair appearance. She was not only beautiful, but innocently charming, woe onto any man who dare reject the blessing that was her mere presence by their side.

After a few minutes, Jeanne wrapped a bath towel around herself and headed into the bathroom, Lyserg couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at this, but he felt content at having had the pleasure to have done such a forbidden thing.

Just then, two men, Ren and Chocolove, entered the room, "So Chocolove, how is everything proceeding?"

"Sales are going up by the notches, boss, and no one's suspecting a thing. The feds are spooked after that stunt you pulled with the junk."

"I should know, where's my laptop computer? I need to check our transactions, and make sure that this week's proceeds are properly recorded."

Chocolove pointed to a little black board on the table, "Over there sir."

Lyserg beckoned Fenghuang to him, "Fenghuang, check this out!"

Fenghuang returned to his side, "Hmm… the plot thickens."

"Too bad we can't see what's on his laptop."

After Ren finished up his business, he closed the laptop and turned to Chocolove, "I'm heading back to the party. Chocolove, you keep checking on our friends, and make sure they keep the merchandise rolling."

Lyserg and Fenghuang began contemplating what to do next, it seemed certain, though, that the key laid within that laptop.

"So Fenghuang, how do you propose we get to it?"

"You did promise Missus Tao you would dance with her again, correct?"

"Yes."

"Perhaps you can keep the audience occupied while I steal my way back into their room and see if I can find any useful information?"

"That could work, but we'll need a way of keeping in touch."

"No problem," Fenghuang opened his palm and revealed a tiny device, "We can probably use this."

Lyserg picked up the curious device, "What is this?"

"This, Mister Diethel, is known as a codec, it's been all the rage amongst intelligence agencies across the globe, with this little gizmo, we can listen to each other in volumes barely audible than a whisper, perfect to keep in contact with and conversation privacy guaranteed. Just put it in your ear, and we'll be all set."

Lyserg returned back to the ballroom, with Jeanne waiting near the dance floor, he approached her suavely, "Hello again Mademoiselle, did I take long?"

Jeanne seemed somewhat cross, "You most certainly did, I was beginning to think you had chickened out on me."

"Forgive me for the delay, I was simply waiting for the proper moment. Now, shall we?"

"_Mais naturellement._"

(Translated: But of course.)

Lyserg took Jeanne's hand and guided her onto the dance floor, the spotlight once again shown upon them, Lyserg and Jeanne respectfully bowed and curtsied respectively towards the audience, and began another dance, this time with no one else to disrupt their moment.

Lyserg recalled seeing Jeanne's bare, nubile body from earlier, even now he could feel a divine, splendid aura emanating from her as the two waltzed the length of the dance floor, feeling so close in person and yet so far in reality, Lyserg couldn't help but sigh.

Jeanne heard it, and turned to Lyserg, "_Ce qui est la matière, Monsieur Lyserg?_"

(Translated: What is the matter, monsieur Lyserg?)

"_Rien mademoiselle, juste un sentiment tragique que je suis venu au moment, il n'est rien._"

(Translated: Nothing mademoiselle, just a tragic feeling I've come upon, it's nothing.)

Jeanne looked at him with a soft, compassionate look, almost as though understanding his situation, she pitied him, but couldn't exactly put her thumb as to _why_.

Just then, Fenghuang called through Lyserg's codec, "Lyserg, are you there?"

"Fenghuang, how is your progress?"

"I've managed to get back into the room, but I'm still trying to crack through Ren's computer, can you spare me a few more minutes?"

"That won't do, Fenghuang, I can't keep her, and Ren, tied up forever!"

"Deal with it, you said you wanted a little risk, and it can't get any riskier than this!"

Jeanne noticed Lyserg mumble something, "_Vous a dit n'importe quoi, Lyserg?_"

(Translated: Did you say anything, Lyserg?)

"_Aucun pas du tout, Mademoiselle Jeanne, pas du tout._"

(Translated: No not at all, Mademoiselle Jeanne, not at all.)

And so, Lyserg resumed their wonderful little dance, except it wasn't so little as it progressed. Soon, both dancers felt a deep, undiscovered passion arouse within their souls, they found themselves lost in a panorama of lights and shadow, playing tunes of romantic melody kindly in their ears, sealing them in a private world of keenly in tuned synchronization, their souls danced not as partners, but as a single performer rousing the onlookers in a spectacle of movement and sound, the true essence of a dance at its absolute finest, a beloved art form refined to its clearest and most beautiful. To Lyserg, he felt the touch of a miracle overwhelm him so intensely, that he didn't feel like letting go, and yet sadly, he must, for the good of all…

Fenghuang contacted him again, "Lyserg, are you there? I've got some great info that might help us."

Lyserg didn't respond, he was still lost in thought.

Fenghuang called out to him again, "Lyserg, Lyserg!"

Lyserg finally snapped out of his little dance trance to reply to him, "Oh sorry, I was caught up in something, anyway, what did you find?"

"We'll go over it someplace safer, right now you'll have to end your dance, we need to leave soon."

"Oh all right."

After ending it with glorious finality, the audience clapped their hands in honor of their great skill.

Later, Lyserg and Fenghuang were about to leave the hotel and return to Fenghuang's office when Jeanne stopped them, "Wait, Monsieur Lyserg!"

Lyserg turned towards the beautiful Frenchwoman and greeted her accordingly, "Hello again, what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for that wonderful dance, I have never done anything like that in my life up until now."

Lyserg smiled, "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it, good day, Mademoiselle."

"Au revoir, monsieur."

Lyserg and Fenghuang began riding back towards the latter's office.

Fenghuang decided to engage in friendly conversation with Lyserg, "So how was your dance?"

"Oh, well it was quite splendid, I've had many dances with lots of ladies, but never had one as… serendipitous as that."

"Is that so? Well, I've never quite understood the majesty of dance, and I may never will."

"Are you introverted Fenghuang? You seem to give the impression of it."

"That obvious huh? Well, I've got nothing to say about that matter, and before you start pressing buttons, I'd recommend you not get any more out of me."

"Fine by me, I'm not one to get into details about guys."

"Hmm… In any event, you don't happen to have any friends here in Hong Kong do you?"

"No, I don't believe I do."

"Then I suppose that van behind us is hot on our tail then?"

Lyserg looked at the side view mirror and saw a red van fast approaching them with some mean-looking men at the helm.

"I believe so Fenghuang."

"Then let's amskray!"

Fenghuang immediately had his car dash as quickly as possible to get away from their pursuers, who immediately gave pursuit.

Fenghuang rushed through the relatively light traffic amidst the sounds of cars honking and screeching, all while being pursued by the red van.

"Fenghuang, run up to that alley!"

Fenghuang did as told and rushed through a nearby narrow alley, numerous people jumped out of the way as their car ran past them.

Lyserg looked behind him, "Did we lose them?"

The car rushed back into open street, where the red van was once again on their tail, "Apparently not."

One of the men in the car pulled out a handgun and proceeded to fire upon Fenghuang's car, "Lyserg, hold them back a little!"

Lyserg pulled out his Springfield 1911 A1 Operator handgun, and started returning fire on the other car.

The two vehicles rushed on for a few miles, eventually reaching the outer limits of the urban zones, they raced on the cliffsides overlooking the sea and continued their little chase, by this time Lyserg had lost all his rounds.

"What do we do now, Fenghuang?"

Fenghuang did not speak, he instead accelerated the car further and proceeded to run it further down the road, going faster with each pace.

Soon they approached a sharp curve at the road, Lyserg became somewhat hesitant about what Fenghuang was planning, but he braced himself for what he was ominously expecting.

As soon as they were near the edge, Fenghuang quickly had his car make a major turnabout, the red van, caught off guard, continued moving straight, heading towards the edge.

Fenghuang quickly bumped the van near its back, causing the pursuers' van to go even more out of control and falling over the cliff and into the rocks below.

Fenghuang and Lyserg parked and exited their vehicle to inspect the wreckage below.

"Whoever's pulling the strings around here is really desperate to get us out of the way, huh, Lyserg?"

Lyserg nodded, "And I suppose we'll take this as motivation to move faster as well, huh?"

Author's notes: Longest first chapter I've ever made, 18 pages long huh? Now that's a record.


	2. Chapter 2

**003: Diethel, Lyserg Diethel**

_Minor edit: Changed some bits of Lyserg and Jeanne's dialogue in the previous chapter along with certain elements._

Lyserg and Fenghuang started analyzing the data they acquired from Ren's computer.

They discovered, among other things, that the drug shipments are being made in Southeast Asia, in particular, the infamous Golden Triangle. Ren also has some kind of headquarters hidden there; however, neither of the men could obtain any more info.

"No nothing else to gather, Fenghuang?"

"Nope, the encryption program on his laptop security was top-of-the-line, this was all I could get."

"What a shame, oh well, at least it looks like we're getting close, what do you think we should do now?"

Fenghuang's phone rang and he answered the man on the other end, "Yes? Oh I see. He's going there is he? Right, we'll think of something about it right away."

"What was that about?"

"It would seem, Lyserg, that Mister Tao has taken a flight on his private jet to his vacation home in Thailand, I had one of my men keep close tabs on him after that whole deal with the pursuers earlier. What do you think we should do now?"

Lyserg bent his head down in contemplation, and then he spoke up, "We need to keep him within our sights. Can you spare time to come to Thailand?"

Fenghuang grinned, "My superiors love giving me the freedom to operate as I wish. I'll see what I can do."

The two men boarded a plane and traveled south to Thailand, once at the airport they were greeted by a man waiting for Fenghuang, "There's our contact, let's go."

The two traveled around the streets of Bangkok until they came upon a large mansion in the city outskirts.

The contact turned towards them, "Here is their vacation house, what shall we do now?"

Lyserg took out his binoculars and took a look around the area, from the windows all he saw were some valets doing their rounds around the house. Eventually, he spotted Ren in a room on the higher floor, talking with a gruff-looking man wearing some unusual, militant-style clothing.

"Well, what have we here?"

Fenghuang took out his binoculars and examined the window Lyserg was observing.

"Fenghuang, what do you think of that other guy there?"

"He stands out, but he's definitely shady."

Ren pulled out a suitcase and opened its contents to the person; the other man pulled out some bills and started examining them, to see if they were the real thing.

"We learn from what we observe with our eyes, at least, that's what Aristotle said to Alexander the Great."

"Well, Lyserg, it would seem that we've learned much, but not enough, perhaps we should take the time to analyze all of this, before our knowledge is left to waste."

"You worry too much Fenghuang, but I suppose you're right. Let's find a place to stay around here and then we'll make up some plans."

Later…

After finding a room to stay in Bangkok, Lyserg sat by the windowsill, sipping his favorite Bloody Mary while looking towards the general direction of Ren's mansion, waiting for Fenghuang to return from his own assignment, "Oh Lyserg! I've found something that might come in handy!"

"What is it Fenghuang?"

"Well, I had a look around and I retrieved a blueprint of the mansion from its architect, and I think I've found a way in."

"Well, shoot."

Fenghuang spread the blueprint on his bed, then pointed to a specific location on it, "Ok, so here's the deal, now, there is a pipe network that runs around the perimeter of the mansion, all of them are connected to a reservoir nearby. There are three locations in the mansion the pipeline flows into the most: A well, the swimming pool, and the indoor bath house, we can probably swim into the mansion from these areas."

"Where do you find these things, Fenghuang?"

"I have many friends across the world, Lyserg, from the most open of spaces to cramped back-alleys."

A few hours later…

Lyserg and Fenghuang took a truck and headed towards the location of the reservoir, bringing a large trunk of gear along with them.

Parking near a river bank, the two men pulled out their trunk and prepared themselves for their little trip. Among their equipment, there was a water-tight suit, a complete scuba set, and a pair of plasma cutters.

"Ok, Lyserg, you know what to do. Our objective is to find more intel regarding Ren's illegal trading activities. But my question is: How will we know what we're looking for?"

"Sometimes that which we seek out the most is hidden within plain sight. I'm certain we'll find something of value in there, we just need to be very observant."

"If you say so, oh, and just a precaution: Stay on your toes."

"I'll keep that in mind."

After donning their suits, the two dived into the water and found the pipe they were looking for. Moving inside, they swam through the waterways of the network, eventually arriving at a grate filtering the water.

Taking out their plasma cutters, Lyserg and Fenghuang cut open the grate and proceeded further inside, finally arriving at a junction where the pipe splits into three larger openings and several smaller ones. Fenghuang gave the signal that he'll be heading in another direction, and that he'll regroup with Lyserg later at the reservoir.

Lyserg proceeded through another grate and, after cutting through it, arrived inside the bath house. After concealing his scuba gear inside, he entered the mansion proper.

Drawing out his gun, Lyserg quietly snuck through the brightly-lit and decorative corridors. Passing by ornate doors, Lyserg silently crept up into the next floor, seeking out the room he felt contained his answers.

Searching vigilantly, Lyserg continued until suddenly, a double door opened, and a valet and a lady came through, Lyserg ducked out of sight just before they spotted him.

"Why am I not allowed into this room? I demand to have at least some answer as to why?"

"I'm sorry madam, but Mister Tao never allows anyone but himself and Master McDonell into his private study at this late hour."

"Well, I can understand that, but really, I just want a place to sit down quietly."

"Madam, how about I take you to one of our guestrooms, I'm sure we can provide for you there."

As the two left, Lyserg crept towards the door which the valet locked behind him, taking out a hairclip and his Swiss army knife screwdriver, Lyserg skillfully picked open the lock and proceeded inside.

"Okay, I'm in… now what do I do?"

Lyserg shifted his eyes across the room, looking for anything of value. Lyserg proceeded towards a nearby desk, pulled out a drawer, and took out a map from it, on the map was a fairly large red circle drawn on a certain region of eastern Thailand, this must have been a clue. Taking a picture of the map, Lyserg contacted Fenghuang, "Fenghuang, I found a map, and it's got a certain spot marked on it, what did you find?"

"I found plenty, Cargo trucks loaded with tons of drugs and some weapons in the garage, I still don't know their destination."

"I guess this will have to do, let's get out of here and see what we can do."

"All right."

After Lyserg finished up from where he was, he turned towards the door and was prepared to leave when suddenly, someone was about to come inside!

"All right, let's start cleaning this place up."

Before the men could even turn towards him however, Lyserg threw a Flashbang grenade towards their feet.

"What the--?"

The grenade immediately exploded with a loud bang and blinding light, causing the men's senses to temporarily be stunned, "Aahh! My eyes!"

Lyserg quickly rushed and knocked the men out as quickly as possible and rushed out of the room.

Meanwhile, in the guardhouse, "Hey, what was that noise?"

"It came from the master's study, let's go check what happened."

Fenghuang had come back to the reservoir much earlier than Lyserg, after disposing of his gear, Fenghuang contacted Lyserg again.

"Lyserg, you there? Are you out of the mansion yet?"

"Not yet Fenghuang, I've had an unexpected surprise but I'm going there now."

The guards entered the study and found the cleaning service unconscious on the floor, "Damn, ok guys, let's start searching the place, report back to me if you find anything out of the ordinary."

Lyserg finally made it back to the bath house. He locked the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

However, someone was already using the bath, and emerged from the water after taking a short submerging. Lyserg spun around in surprise, and was even more surprised that it was none other than Jeanne! Jeanne had her eyes closed while she stroked her hair; once she opened her eyes, however, she caught sight of Lyserg, but did not immediately recognize him, and was startled, "Ah!"

She quickly grabbed the closest thing to a weapon she could find, her back scrubber, and raised it in defense, but upon recognizing him, "Lyserg? What… What are you doing here?"

One of the guards was approaching the bath house, his footsteps becoming louder as he got closer.

Lyserg scrambled to get his scuba gear and jumped into the tub, Jeanne covered her breasts while she kept her "weapon" raised, but was clearly flustered by his proximity to her.

Deciding that keeping her here was too risky, since she had seen his face, Lyserg had no choice but to bring her with him. Lyserg grabbed her, causing Jeanne to shriek at his actions, "Lyserg, what are you doing!?"

"You're better than the alternative!"

Lyserg and Jeanne dove down into the drain as one of the guards knocked down the door, "What? I thought I heard something in here?"

Lyserg and Jeanne swam through the pipeline and finally made it out into the reservoir.

Jeanne emerged out of the water first, gasping for air and shivering from the cold, Lyserg emerged next, and Fenghuang whistled towards him, "Hey Lyserg, what have you been up to you devil?"

Lyserg seemed partially annoyed by this, "Oh be quiet, Fenghuang! And get my coat will you?" Fenghuang tossed the coat to him, and Lyserg approached Jeanne.

"I'm sorry about that, Mademoiselle, I really didn't expect you to be there of all places."

Jeanne laughed weakly due to the cold as Lyserg placed his coat over her, "It's all right Lyserg, we were both surprised it would seem, although I am the one more surprised right now. What were you doing in there?"

"That, Missus Jeanne, is a secret, I'm sorry, but I really cannot tell you at this moment."

"It's about my husband's underground business isn't it?"

"… You hit the nail right on the head, but, if you knew, then why--?"

"Lyserg, Ren is a good man, maybe you don't know that, but he is, in spite of his… unsavory actions." Jeanne said that last statement with a hint of unease.

"Well, in any case, I'll return you back to the mansion tomorrow, in the meantime, mind if we treat you to the comfort of our hotel for the night?"

Jeanne smiled and nodded her head, showing approval to his offer.

Later at the hotel, Lyserg guided Jeanne to their room while Fenghuang ordered for some hot chocolate and a change of clothes.

Inside their room, Lyserg gave Jeanne a towel and allowed her to use the bathroom to freshen up with.

Fenghuang returned to their room with a bundle of fresh clothes, "Here you are Lyserg, I hope Missus Tao likes them."

Later…

Fenghuang left to do some late night business, leaving Jeanne and Lyserg alone in the room. Jeanne had been given the clothes Fenghuang bought and was in the process of putting them on.

"Are you finished yet, Jeanne?"

"Almost, okay, I'm coming out." Jeanne stepped out of the bathroom and into Lyserg's view. She wore a black leotard with broad leg openings and low-rise jeans, "Well, how do I look?"

"You look… perfectly beautiful, as always."

Jeanne blushed, "I am always going to be a perfect beauty to you, am I?"

"Honestly, I believe you will."

"Lyserg…"

Soon, their order of hot chocolate arrived, and Jeanne had herself a sip of it for a while.

"Lyserg, do you intend to bring my husband to justice?"

"That is what they hired me for, although, I wouldn't say I'd be motivated by 'justice' even perhaps, at a personal level."

"I see, Lyserg, you intend to return me to him after tonight, aren't you?"

"Of course, why?"

"Aren't you even a bit concerned that I may reveal what happened? And that you are snooping around Ren's business?"

"Not at all."

"Why?"

"It's in your eyes."

"My… eyes?"

"You are an honest woman Jeanne, but you know how to keep a secret, so, I'm perfectly safe."

"Oh Lyserg, you are impossible!"

"Hehe, well, it doesn't look like Fenghuang is coming back anytime tonight, so how about you sleep in his bed?"

"All right."

Lyserg took a warm shower in the bathroom to clean himself from today's activities, however, as he exited he saw Jeanne lying down on his bed, "Jeanne, that's my bed you're on."

"I… I know that, it's just, may I sleep with you for just this one time?"

Lyserg pondered it for a moment, he supposed it was all right, and right now he felt exhausted, "I suppose so."

Lyserg laid down next to Jeanne, and dozed off into a deep sleep as soon as he closed his eyes. Jeanne wrapped her arms around him, taking comfort in his warmth, and in spite of the fact that this whole scenario seemed so taboo, Jeanne couldn't help but take a certain "guilty pleasure" from being so close to Lyserg.

Tomorrow comes…

After Jeanne was sent on her way back to Ren, Lyserg and Fenghuang returned back to the topic of analyzing their discoveries, "So, a map with a certain area marked for interest, and truckloads of black market goods."

"You know Fenghuang, I can't help but feel that everything we've found so far has been too… convenient, almost as though we're being baited into a trap."

"I agree, but the fact is we're getting close to the center of this whole deal, I don't think we have much reason to back out now."

The duo traveled further out of Bangkok and into the jungles of Thailand, heading towards the direction of the area marked in the map Lyserg found.

The two of them eventually arrived at a small village near the area, Fenghuang started going around, asking if there was anyone who could take them to their destination.

Lyserg was inspecting his gun, whittling down the grip with his knife, Fenghuang returned to him and observed his activity, "What's with that grip?"

Lyserg turned to Fenghuang, "In close quarters a handgun is sometimes better than a rifle, and by doing this, I'll be able to keep both my gun and knife at the ready."

"That's good to know, anyway, I found us a guide who'll take us upriver close enough to the area in question, but after that, we're on our own."

Taking a steam-powered river boat, the two men traveled up a river further into the jungle, Lyserg observed his surroundings keenly, looking at the dense maze of green that stretched as far as his eyes could see.

Suddenly, he spotted something in the trees, "Stop!"

Their guide stopped the boat as soon as he heard the order, Fenghuang looked puzzled, "Lyserg, what's wrong?"

Lyserg jumped out of the boat and inspected one of the trees. As he suspected, there was something tied to this tree, Lyserg looked closer, and discovered Semtex, wired with another charge across the water to blow up anything that passes by the river.

After defusing the bomb, the boat resumed its travel onward. Fenghuang was impressed by Lyserg's keen observation skills, "Mister Diethel! I never even saw that, where did you learn to develop such sharp senses?"

"My father taught me that."

After a long journey, they finally reached some shallows, after this, the boat could go no further. The guide stated that he probably wouldn't return to help them anytime soon, since this place was off-limits to the uninvited.

The duo resumed their trek into the woods, seeking out any place that they could find that was of interest.

After cutting about the umpteenth vine, they finally found a clearing with some buildings around it. Looking through their binoculars, they saw patches of poppy plants tended by some men, and a few more men, armed with guns guarding the place. Parked nearby were some of the trucks Fenghuang saw earlier, being loaded with packages from the largest building in the area.

Fenghuang suddenly received a call from his codec, "Yes? What, as in right now? Oh all right, I'll get to it."

"What was that all about?"

"My superiors want me to file a report on my progress; I had forgotten that I haven't done so in a while, what a bother. Lyserg, it looks like you'll be on your own for now."

"Don't worry, I'm used to working alone, but I'll be sure to get you up to speed if you catch up with me again."

"Don't worry, I have a way of keeping you under my radar."

"What do you mean?"

"I had also forgotten to tell you this, but I have a mole on the inside of Ren's operation. He'll be able to help you if you get into trouble."

"How will I know this person?"

"You won't, to directly interact with you will put him in jeopardy. He will assist you discreetly, but I'm afraid he cannot reveal his identity to you."

"Oh, very well."

"We'll meet again, Lyserg, don't you worry about a thing."

"How are you going to get back, though?"

"I have ways, until next time."

After Fenghuang departed, Lyserg was alone at last, left to solve this case with no one to watch his back, "I like a little risk."

Sneaking into the facility, Lyserg saw harvesters packing their bundles of poppy into boxes inside the main building, an idea suddenly struck him.

Stealing one of the boxes, Lyserg quietly slipped inside one of the trucks, hiding under the box, he waited, hoping that maybe this will take him to where he needs to be.

"All right, this is the last one. Let's get these to HQ as soon as possible."

"Yes sir!"

The truck departed from the location and drove off deeper into the jungle, arriving at a large ruin located within. After entering a gate and parking along with other trucks, Lyserg discarded his cardboard disguise and snuck around the area, gun and knife at the ready.

"Now, how am I going to get in? The front door is clearly out of the question."

After some searching, Lyserg eventually discovered a ventilation shaft under some brush, "How impeccably convenient."

Little did Lyserg know, however, was that right at this very moment, he was being watched.

Ren, in his personal office, watched from a hidden camera as Lyserg so casually unbolted the shaft and crawled right in.

"So, the mouse has snuck into the lair of the snake, and it's feeding time no less."

Ren pressed a button on his radio, contacting his enforcer, "Usui, deal with Mister Diethel for us. Dead is perfectly fine, but I'm in the mood to have him alive, for now at least."

"Yes sir, but may I have the pleasure of applying some measure of pain?"

"As you wish, Usui, he is in your hands."

After crawling through the cold, metallic tunnels, Lyserg arrived at an equally cold place. From the looks of things, it was a large freezer room, with steel crates left inside, probably for storage, ready for whatever use awaited them.

Descending from the high platform he entered from, Lyserg began exploring the room, still holding his weapons ready, and taking deep breaths from the cold.

After a few paces, Lyserg felt as though someone was coming, and raised his weapon, pointing it forward with no target in mind.

Until suddenly, someone walked into view, he had a pale complexion, and wore very distinctive attire, a set of metal plates over a black suit, and a tank holding liquid nitrogen connected to a pair of nozzles located above his wrist.

Lyserg could think of nothing to say but a snide question, "Jack Frost, I presume?"

The other man smirked, "I'm afraid not."

"What a shame, so, how may I address you?"

"I go by Horokeu Usui, Enforcer of Mister Tao, I've been assigned to bring you to him, Mister Diethel."

"Thanks but I'd prefer to decline right now."

"But I insist!" Horo shot a blast of cold nitrogen at Lyserg, who dodged at the last moment behind a crate, "Quick on your feet, but not good enough."

Lyserg navigated around the crates, keeping himself out of Horo's sights as much as possible.

"It would be wrong to say 'cool off" now wouldn't it?"

"Damn right."

Horo walked around the crates, calmly waiting for Lyserg to rear his head at him.

Lyserg carefully navigated to Usui's rear, taking advantage, Lyserg unloaded three of his gun's rounds at his opponent; however, none of the bullets penetrated the metal plates.

"What in the hell?"

Horohoro turned about to face the direction of the gunfire, "Nice try hotshot!"

Usui launched another volley of nitrogen at Lyserg, who barely dodged it again.

"Is this all you can do Brit?"

Usui was getting impatient, so, deciding to finish this in a hurry, he began aggressively seeking out Lyserg around the room, "Where are you, you little git?"

Before he knew what happened, Lyserg jumped on top of him and grabbed hold of his neck.

"Think you can outsmart me, Brit!?"

The two wrestled as Lyserg tried to break Usui's neck, while Horo on the other hand was trying to get him off.

After a brief struggle, Horo turned out to be the stronger one of the two, tossing Lyserg down into the floor with a thud.

"Oof!"

Usui didn't finish there however, after pulling Lyserg up, he started to beat him black and blue, landing one blow after another until blood was drawn.

Lyserg could barely stand, he felt his legs go numb and frostbiting cold seep into his veins, his vision became partially blurred, but he could see Usui looking over him.

"The boss will be happy to see you; I hope you're in a forthcoming mood."

Usui finished with a hard knee-kick squarely into Lyserg's gut, and the green-haired spy fell to the floor on his knees, coughed up some more blood, and fell unconscious…

**Author's Notes: You know, for some reason I can't help but think that something is wrong with this chapter, like I've made an error in my grammar somewhere. My stupid "M" key won't work properly, so, dear readers, please notify me if I've made a mistake somewhere and I'll rectify it as soon as possible.**


	3. Chapter 3

**003: Diethel, Lyserg Diethel**

_Foreword: A bit of RenxJeannexLyserg love triangle here_

It's a cold day in Hell.

No other phrase could best describe what Lyserg was going through. Captured by the enemy, Lyserg had his arms chained up to the ceiling with a plastic bag over his head. Chocolove and Horokeu were tasked with trying to break some info out of him.

They did so spraying Lyserg with chilling cold nitrogen, and then followed with boiling hot water. The sensation of two extremes of temperature tore through his body, extracting grunts of pain from him.

The door to the torture room opened, and Ren himself entered the room, as much as he thought it reeked, it was a necessary endeavor for these occasions.

"Well, did he talk yet?"

Chocolove dropped his bucket and turned to Ren, "Nope, we got nothing out of him yet."

"I'd figure as much. Information gathered from interrogation is usually unreliable."

Usui turned to him, "What should we do boss?"

Ren pondered over it slightly, "I think I'm up for a little exercise, Chocolove, my implements if you will?"

Chocolove handed Ren a pair of brass knuckles. After putting them on, Ren approached Lyserg.

"You're quite the nuisance, Mister Diethel, and as I believe you're already familiar with, nuisances are not welcome in a flourishing business."

Ren punched Lyserg in the abdomen, forcing a grunt out of him.

"I know that what you're doing is your job, but is all that pay really worth it?" Ren punched Lyserg again.

"I know that I'm probably not going to get anything out of this, but how much do your employers know?" Ren started jabbing Lyserg about three times; the latter winced in pain at this attack.

"Come now Mister Diethel, I can be a reasonable man when I want to be, just answer my question." Ren punched Lyserg with all the force he could muster squarely in the face.

Lyserg still did not speak, he panted behind his blinds, out of breath from Ren's assault.

"Hmph, whoever taught you how to hold yourself in like that was pretty good at handling a beating."

Just then, Men and Jeanne entered the room. As soon as Jeanne saw Lyserg, she gasped in shock, seeing him bruised and battered and left dangling by chains.

Men turned to his father, "So father, did he talk?"

"Nope, he's a stubborn Tommy, like a tin can without the opener." Ren took a stool to sit down on.

Men turned to Lyserg, "I suppose it's simply because we haven't touched the right buttons yet. What do you suggest, Father?"

Ren observed Lyserg for a second, and then he thought of the cruelest thing ever.

"Cut out his eyes."

All heads turned to Ren in surprise, especially Jeanne and Lyserg.

"I don't like those green eyes of his. And besides, there is nothing more important to a person than their eyes."

Men looked at his father for a moment, not really certain what to do, Ren faced his son, "Go on Men, do it."

Men pulled out a knife and, with some hesitation, slowly walked towards Lyserg. Pulling out the plastic bag over his head, Men observed Lyserg's damaged face, a bloodied cut on his forehead, and a small trickle of blood flowing down his jaw.

Men raised his weapon, pointing it at Lyserg's eye, slowly, inch by inch, the tip of the blade moved closer to Lyserg, who, in spite of his courage, was twitching in fear and anxiety.

Jeanne was appalled by this, she could take the sight of torture to a certain degree, but this… this was insane!

The blade drew closer to his eyes, ready to pull them out with horrific result, Jeanne finally snapped.

"Men, don't!" Jeanne reached out and grabbed her son's wrist in the knick of time.

Men turned to his mother, slightly surprised, "Mother?"

Jeanne turned to face everyone in the room, all of them looking at her with puzzled countenance.

"I… um… I need to go back to my room." Jeanne quickly walked out of the torture room, embarrassed by what she just did.

Ren smirked, "Well, that was refreshing."

"I suppose it was; father, shall I take care of him?"

"Do as you wish."

Ren, Chocolove, and Horohoro all left the room, leaving Lyserg with Men.

"Amazing how you survived my father's torture like that." Men started clapping his hands, applauding Lyserg's endurance, "My mom seems to have a thing for you, Mister Diethel, you should thank your lucky stars she pulled you out at the last minute."

"She is full of surprises."

A pair of guards entered the room, "You two, put him in the holding cell."

Later…

Lyserg felt himself ache all over; his eyes were tired from the whole ordeal. At that moment, all he wanted to do was to give his exhausted body rest.

However, his peaceful slumber would not last long, as a light clanging sound resounded in his ears.

Lyserg struggled to get up from his cell bed, groaning from the pain as he sat up. As soon as he was able, he looked towards the door, and saw a veritable angel standing before him: Jeanne

"Lyserg, are you all right?"

"Jeanne… yes, I'm fine, but what are you doing here?"

"I… well, I don't know what came over me there. I just felt that, doing something like that to you was wrong."

"Is that all you've come to tell me?"

"You're not angry at me are you?"

"No, of course not."

"Oh, Lyserg…"

"So, what did you come here for? Not only to offer me condolences?"

"Oh, well, I thought you might be hungry, so, I brought you these." Jeanne showed Lyserg some food.

"How kind of you."

"I hope it's enough for you, that's all I could find."

"Hey, no need to worry, at least it's better than the stuff one could find in Britain."

Jeanne giggled softly at his remark, "Well, I had better return to my husband's side, take care Lyserg."

"Don't worry Jeanne, I can take care of myself."

After she left, Lyserg was left alone in the cell again, left with only the food he was given.

As Lyserg bit into his meal, he started planning his means of escape, his cell was very sturdy, and obviously, his equipment was confiscated to who knows where.

"How am I gonna get out of this pickle?"

Suddenly, his codec beeped in his ear, "Who in the-?"

Lyserg answered the call, but it was not Fenghuang, "Hello, Lyserg, are you there?"

"Who is this?"

"Ah, good, I got through to you."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Oh sorry, anyway, Fenghuang sent you didn't he?"

"He did say he had a mole on the inside, are you him?"

"More or less, but, I can't tell you who I am."

"He told me that too, but, are you going to help me?"

"But of course, that is why I'm here. Anyway, to get started, we'll need to get you out of that cell."

"How do we do that?"

"Under your bed, I placed a copy of each holding cells' key under each bed, you should be able to get out this way, and thankfully, the guards are on their coffee break, lazy bunch of goons, they are."

"That's a start, but what about my gear?"

"Once you leave the holding cells, you will enter the hangar, on the far end of the hangar in relation to your position, you will find a manhole that leads into the sewers. Enter the sewers and travel all the way near the end and there should be a door there that will take you to a tunnel that leads to a small cave, I hid your gear there, along with some food, water, and a little medicine. Can you manage all that?"

"I'll see what I can do."

Meanwhile…

Jeanne returned to hers' and Ren's quarters, still a bit despondent after what happened.

Ren entered the room, and seeing his wife sitting down looking not in a sunny mood, he approached her.

Placing his hands on her shoulders, Ren attempted to talk with her, "Forgive me for what had happened earlier, my dear."

"Ren…"

"Jeanne, do you fancy him?"

Jeanne did not respond, partially ashamed by what her actual answer would be.

"He is a good man, Jeanne, perhaps even better than I could have been."

"But Ren…!"

Ren placed a finger to his wife's lips to silence her, "I suppose it is true then that sometimes 'It's sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along' don't you think Jeanne?"

"Yes, it is, but Ren, I am your wife. Even if… even if I do fancy him, there is nothing to come out of it because I am bound to you!"

"Silly little Jeanne…"

"What?"

"A marriage, as much a momentous occasion as it is, it is, in my opinion, a shallow ceremony meant to publicize the union of two people. The true matrimony, true love of two people is something that is shared intimately by the couple; it isn't something that is garishly displayed like a puppy at a pet store window."

"Ren, do you love me?"

"My dearest Jeanne, I wouldn't be with you today if I had not. However, it would seem that perhaps, your heart belongs somewhere else."

Jeanne turned away, unable to speak her mind about the matter.

"In the end, perhaps only one of us, me or Lyserg, will come out of this alive."

"Ren…"

Ren went in front of Jeanne, and kneeled in front of her, "No matter which one of us you love in the end, I'll be happy for you, my dear."

"Ren… what… what should I do?"

"Wait back at the vacation house, whoever comes back after all of this, know that I have no regrets, and Jeanne, promise me you won't have any either."

Jeanne faced Ren, and a weak smile formed on her lips, "Thank you, Ren."

Jeanne gave Ren one big hug, Ren returned it, since he felt this was most likely the last time they would be together like this.

Jeanne hurriedly left the room, passing by Men, who observed her as she left, "Men, I will see you later, all right?"

Men walked into Ren's room, watching his father pour some vodka into his favorite stemware glass, and then wistfully sitting down as though he hadn't a care in the world.

"Did anything happen, Father?"

"Nothing Men, absolutely nothing…"

Lyserg had descended into the sewers; so far, he's managed to elude the security of the place for the time being.

Lyserg traveled further inside, eventually finding the door the mole spoke of. However, as he reached for the knob, it was locked.

"Bloody hell, it's locked."

Lyserg turned on his codec, and contacted the mole, "Hello, it's me, the door is locked."

"Figured as much."

"What do you mean?"

"Ren found out you escaped."

"I'd figure he would sooner or later, but what has that have to do with anything?"

"After he found out you escaped he had the whole facility placed on red alert, on that kind of alert level, most of the passageways leading to the outside are now practically locked down, including your escape route I made out for you."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"This isn't the time for jokes, Lyserg, you're gonna have to keep running out of there."

"But this is the only door in the sewer, isn't it?"

"We're out of options, you'll have to get out of there somehow, think on your feet!"

Lyserg had no choice but to race further up the sewer, all while trying to come up with some means of escape, behind him, he could hear foots splashing and dogs barking; it looks like they found him already.

Lyserg continued running as fast as he could, trying to get away from his pursuers. Eventually, he arrived at an opening where the water flowed out like a waterfall down into a river.

Faced with a dead end, Lyserg turned back to see his pursuers, who had finally caught up with him, the dogs growled while facing him, and the guards pointed cautiously with their guns.

Lyserg raised his arms up in a fighting stance, trying to appear calm and undaunted by their approach.

Suddenly, Chocolove appeared behind the guards, and walked to become their forefront.

Lyserg regarded him curiously, but did not let his guard down. Chocolove then pulled out a silver plated revolver magnum and inserted one bullet into it.

Lyserg's curiosity piqued, and he dared to ask a question about what McDonell was going to do, "What is this?"

"Do you know Russian Roulette, Mister Diethel? I find it to be a very interesting hobby when dealing with pests like you. What say we have a round?"

Chocolove pointed his gun after setting the cartridge in and twisting the chamber, he pulled down the hammer, getting ready to fire.

As for Lyserg, he knew he was practically cornered; in front of him was a man with a gun trying to play on his fears, while right behind him, a waterfall that might as well be a one-way trip to the afterlife.

Chocolove pulled the trigger; however, no round was fired yet. Lyserg knew that in desperate times like these, the crazier of two options proved a fifty-fifty chance of making it out alive, or ending up dead.

With no other option left, Lyserg backed away slowly, placing his life to fate.

Chocolove noticed this, and rushed forward to stop him.

Lyserg fell from the wide drainage, and found himself falling freely down into the river below.

Chocolove attempted to fire, but once again, the single bullet he placed was still so far off from the barrel.

Lyserg crashed into the water, where he now wrestled against the raging current, taking him to who knows where.

Chocolove watched as Lyserg was swept away, with nothing else to do, he and the guards returned to the base.

Lyserg floated unconsciously in the water, teetering upon the border of life and death. He suddenly had a vision of childhood memories flash within his mind.

When he was but a youngster, Lyserg traveled with his family to the country of Val Verde, where his father, then an agent of SIS, was stationed. Ultimately, the decision to have his family come along was Lyserg's idea, as he wanted to have his family together since he was tired of his father, Liam's constant globe-trotting.

One day during a festival in a small rural town, Jane, Lyserg's mother, decided to go to a nearby convenience store, leaving her husband and son outside; Lyserg and Liam started wandering around, looking to find anything of interest.

"Dad, look!"

"What is it, Lyserg?"

The father and son approached a stall, for sale were some fancy keychains up for sale.

"Do you want a keychain, son?"

"Yeah, um… ooh, how about that one?" Lyserg pointed to one with a cute fairy motif attached to it.

"Well, all right, I'll admit it looks pretty."

"Actually, Dad, I thought maybe I could give this to mom for her birthday, you didn't forget did you?"

"Oh, right, I forgot! Now what am I going do?"

"Don't worry Dad; I'm sure you'll think of something." After taking his gift, the two wondered what to do now.

The two decided to sit down while Lyserg admired the gift he would give to his mother, while Liam waited for Jane, "I wonder what's taking her so long?"

Suddenly, an explosion suddenly burst from the convenience store Jane was in. Liam, horrified at the sight, rushed quickly to the burning ruins, "Jane, Jane!"

Lyserg just sat there, shocked beyond words at what just happened.

After returning home to England, Jane was given a proper funeral, Lyserg was still stunned by it: His mother had died, and a complex range of emotions mixed all over his mind and heart.

After returning home, Lyserg silently returned to his room, sat down on his bed, and do the only thing that would be the most appropriate to do: Shed tears

Lyserg eventually awakened from his little trip down memory lane, and still found himself submerged beneath the waters.

Realizing where he was, Lyserg scrambled to the surface as fast as possible to avoid drowning.

Gasping for air, Lyserg managed to make it, albeit barely: he swam to solid ground and coughed up some water, taking time to recover after that whole ordeal.

After a few minutes, his codec came alive again, "Lyserg, are you there? Come in."

"Yeah, I'm fine; I just need to catch my breath."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm in some kind of grove, lots of trees, there's a small waterfall here, and some kind of sign, written in Thai."

"A grove and a sign? Well, it seems you're in luck."

"Why is that?"

"Beneath that waterfall is the little cave where I had hidden your gear. How miraculously fortunate that you wound up precisely where you needed to be."

"All right, I'll head there now."

"By the way, I've contacted Fenghuang, and he'll come to your location as soon as possible. For now I've formulated a plan to put an end to all of this."

Lyserg entered the cave, finding a bundle of dry firewood and the trunk filled with Lyserg's gear and some supplies. It was beginning to get dark so Lyserg decided to camp here for the night.

With the fall of night, Lyserg had by this time settled into his surroundings, getting ready to rest; however, the mole contacted him again regarding his plan, "Hello? Lyserg, are you there?"

"Yes, I'm still here, are you ready to talk about your plan?"

"All right, as you noticed in the trunk, I also included a uniform of one of the facility's technicians, and some Semtex plastic explosives. You must plant these in a few locations in the base and it'll blow to kingdom come."

"That's pretty straightforward, but what about Jeanne?"

"What about her?"

"I… I don't want her to die blowing up like that."

"Well, I suppose you needn't worry, Ren sent her back to their vacation home near Bangkok, she's miles away from where we are at any rate."

"That's good to know. By the way, what area do you need me to bomb anyway?"

"Well, it's just three rooms: The generator, control room, and a storage room. As for that last one, there are a few tanks of jet engine fuel which you can probably plant to increase the damage done to the facility if you can get some Semtex on it."

"All right, any more info I should be aware of?"

"Chocolove and Horokeu are extremely dangerous, keep your eyes peeled for them."

Lyserg traversed the long tunnel leading back into Ren's headquarters, climbing up a tall ladder to re-enter the sewers from.

Upon returning to the hangar, Lyserg quietly snuck through the base, keeping a low profile amidst the wandering guards and other personnel inside.

Finding the rooms in question was fairly easy enough, after planting the charges in the control and storage rooms, Lyserg headed towards the Generator, but once he got there, he discovered, among other things, a retinal scanning device, no one but one of the technicians could get in.

Turning to the side, Lyserg saw one of the technicians enter a nearby locker room, he quietly followed him in.

The technician opened his locker and took a sip of his coffee; Lyserg grabbed him by the neck, and, knocking him out, dragged him back to the scanner, gaining access inside.

Pulling the unconscious technician in so no one could see him, Lyserg planted the last length of Semtex. After finishing that up, he proceeded to prime the detonator.

Lyserg turned his codec on and contacted his mole again, "Hey, I'm done planting the charges, now what do I do?"

"The hangar door's been opened; it looks like they're going to deliver the goods to the port."

"The port?"

"That's where freight ships dock to take the goods produced here elsewhere around the world. My best guess is that Ren is already there, coordinating their distribution."

"All right, I'll head back to the hangar and see what I can do."

"Hurry, Lyserg, I have a bad feeling about this."

Lyserg walked back towards the entrance of the room, when suddenly, a guard walked in. The guard quickly saw Lyserg and the unconscious technician, and yelled in alert, "We have an intruder!"

Lyserg quickly pulled out his gun and silenced the guard, however, two more guards appeared, and soon the entire facility was on high alert.

Lyserg ran out to the hangar as fast as he could, encountering a small group of guards, "Freeze!"

Lyserg man-handled the closest one, using him as a shield and causing the others to hesitate to fire, as soon as he got close, he threw the man in his custody away and proceeded to beat the other men, striking at their vital vulnerabilities, knocking them all out handily.

Lyserg finally arrived at the hangar; however, a large group of guards were at the entrance, all pointing their weapons at him.

"You're cornered, give up!"

Lyserg didn't want to agree, but he was right, there was no way but a miracle to get him out of this mess.

"Hey, you gits!"

Suddenly, a large explosion wiped out the entire lot of them, Lyserg was stunned.

"What happened?"

Waiting outside the entrance, was none other than Fenghuang, riding on a BJ2020 utility vehicle, and holding an empty RPG-7 in his hands, no doubt the one which caused the explosion.

"Sorry for taking so long, Diethel, I had more paperwork to file than I thought!"

"Never mind that, we've only got a few minutes to get out of here before this whole place blows!"

"All right, get in!"

Lyserg and Fenghuang rushed out as fast as they could away from the facility.

"Attention, all personnel, explosives have been detected, all personnel are to evacuate the perimeter immediately! This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill!"

Everyone left behind began scrambling to get out as quickly as possible, Men was still in the facility, watching Lyserg and Fenghuang leave in a hurry, "It's convenient to have friends you can rely on."

Suddenly, a guard rushed into his room, "Young master, we need to escape, now!"

Men turned towards the interfering person, "Do not rush me, I will leave soon."

Lyserg and Fenghuang continued rushing away from the facility, keeping their distance as far as possible.

Eventually, the Semtex exploded, and soon one boom after another engulfed the entire facility. Anyone who didn't get out were incinerated quickly, and those within reach were heavily wounded and dazed from the blast. Lyserg and Fenghuang continued running as flaming bits of debris flew all over them, endangering their safety.

After getting to a safe distance, the two stopped their vehicle and took a short break to catch their breaths.

Fenghuang opted for a cigarette, Lyserg declined, "So, how was everything?"

"Terrible, to say the least, but I pulled through; your mole was quite handy."

"Aye, he is a dependable guy."

"You're still not going to tell me who he is?"

"No."

"Oh well."

"What happened to Ren?"

"Seems he's at some port close by, we've got him cornered now."

"Well, let's get to it."

Suddenly, bullets started whizzing by them, they turned around and saw several guards riding on motorcycles and armed ones on the sidecars.

"Looks like they aren't through with us yet."

"Most certainly not, hit the gas, Fenghuang!"

Back at the ruins of Ren's facility, Chocolove was buried under a piece of debris, he tried to get it out of the way, but the heat had made it scalding hot, "Ow, jeez."

Usui suddenly approached, picked up and tossed away the debris, and helped Chocolove up; however, Chocolove was visibly annoyed, "What kept you?"

"Sorry, I don't do well with fire."

"Hmph, is the bird still intact?"

"She's fine, as always."

"Then let's hurry up, we gotta catch that fool."

Back with Lyserg, he commandeered the machine gun on the back of their vehicle and proceeded to fight back against their pursuers, so far, he's managed to put down three of them.

"Fenghuang, are we there yet!?"

"Only a couple more miles to go, just keep them off our backs!"

Lyserg continued firing back at their pursuers, holding them at bay as much as possible, suddenly, a large bus of those guys appeared, bearing down to their side.

"This can't be right."

The bus bumped the side of Fenghuang's vehicle, causing him to lose control for a moment.

Lyserg shot at the other vehicle, but it was too heavily armored to penetrate with the machine gun. It continued to ram their side, forcing them into the way of a large tree up ahead.

Fenghuang again waited until the last moment, fighting back against the battle bus. Finally, once they were within reach, Fenghuang allowed the bus to shove them away, while it crashed into the tree instead.

Before moving ahead, Fenghuang pulled to the side of the bus, primed a grenade, threw it at an open window, and drove off, with the vehicle exploding behind them.

"You're an amazing driver, Fenghuang."

"That's nothing."

However, things weren't getting any easier, when suddenly, a Harrier appeared into view just above the tree line, Lyserg was deeply perplexed, "What in the hell? A Harrier?"

It was Chocolove and Horohoro, "Mister Diethel, we have unfinished business!"

The chase was now on, Fenghuang drove further up the road, and now they were within a clearing, and soon all pursuers were within sight, including Usui and Chocolove in their Harrier.

Cleaning up the bikers was no problem; however, dealing with a Harrier and its missiles was a different matter.

"Firing one round."

A missile was launched, barely hitting Fenghuang's BJ2020, it fired another round, this time hitting a little too close for comfort at the vehicle's left side, causing Lyserg to stumble in the rear of the vehicle.

"It's no use Fenghuang, do you have anything that can shoot planes down?

"

"All I've got is a grappling hook!"

"A grappling hook?"

"I like to be absolutely prepared, so I always bring a lot of different gear together."

"Well why didn't you say so?"

Lyserg grabbed the grappling hook, and aimed it towards the Harrier.

"Don't get caught in the slipstream."

"Very funny."

Lyserg aimed carefully, but right now he knew that his very life will hang quite literally in thin air.

Launching the hook up, Lyserg caught one of the Harrier's wings, and reeled himself up towards it.

Hanging onto the craft, Lyserg began crawling up on the wing, trying to get on top.

"Usui, shake him off our bird!"

Horohoro did as was told, and turned the plane sideways, trying to get Lyserg to fall off.

Lyserg slipped slightly, but managed to keep his grip on.

"To Hell with this, I'm taking him out myself!"

Lyserg managed to get a footing onto the craft, balancing himself against the turbulence.

Lyserg ducked as the pilot canopy was ejected. Chocolove then climbed up the Harrier and came face-to-face with Lyserg.

"You live dangerously, don't you Mister Diethel?"

"I like a little risk."

Chocolove pulled out his gun and was about to fire, however, Lyserg grabbed it and the two were locked for control of the gun.

Horohoro was getting exasperated at how out of hand this was beginning to get, "This is crazy! You're crazy! Diethel is crazy! Are all you Westerners this crazy?"

Lyserg placed his arm against Chocolove's neck, trying to shove him off, Chocolove knee-kicked him in the side. Lyserg replied with a few jabs to the stomach, Chocolove struck him with a head-butt, Lyserg countered with one of his own.

Their high-rise brawl continued as they neared a deep chasm up ahead, by this time Lyserg was gripping tightly to Chocolove's wrist, trying to wrestle his gun out.

Gritting their teeth, the two men were sweating every last inch of their effort in this do or die situation, and both were not intent on the latter.

Lyserg forcefully pointed the gun down into the cockpit, and made one last comment to Usui, "This is going to hurt you more than me!"

Lyserg pulled the trigger on Chocolove's gun, and the bullet shot straight through Horohoro, who, upon dying, brought the entire Harrier crashing down near the chasm.

Fenghuang stopped his vehicle near the site of the Harrier, which now balanced precariously upon the edge of the chasm.

Lyserg held on for dear life upon the plane's tail, Chocolove, weakened and bruised on the head, held on to Lyserg.

"Lyserg, are you okay?!"

"Fenghuang, just get me off this thing!"

Fenghuang moved in close, but had to be careful, as any sudden movements could cause the entire plane to fall into oblivion.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!"

Lyserg tried kicking at Chocolove, but he held on with the tenacity of an octopus.

"Lyserg, the plane's tipping!"

Lyserg couldn't hold on for much longer, suddenly, he remembered a ketchup bottle Jeanne gave him when she visited him.

Taking it out, he looked back down at Chocolove.

"Hey, what are you doing with that?!"

"Sorry, but I don't have fries!"

Lyserg threw and shattered the bottle at Chocolove, who lost his grip after being struck; he fell down and was now hanging on to the plane's nose.

Lyserg now attempted to reach out to his friend's arm, inches away from total disaster.

However, the plane had suddenly started to slide off into oblivion. Chocolove couldn't help but curse his luck.

"Stinkin' piece of…"

His last statement would have been one of the loudest yells in cinematography, if this actually was a movie that is.

Lyserg jumped off at the last minute, holding onto the ledge of the chasm, Fenghuang approached him and pulled him out.

"You all right?"

"I'll be fine; we should hurry to Ren while we still can."

Lyserg and Fenghuang drove further down the road without any problems, although the sun had already begun to set against the western horizon.

By the time they arrived at the port, it was completely empty. There was not a single person within sight, but the freight ship which ferried the goods was docked silently up ahead.

"This place looks like a ghost town, Lyserg, you don't suppose Ren knew we were coming and high-tailed it out of here?"

Suddenly, a rumbling sound entered within hearing range, it sounded like something moving heavily along treads, and appeared to be emanating from a warehouse to the side.

"What in blazes is that sound?"

Suddenly, a large, black tank burst forward from the warehouse, turning to face the two men.

Fenghuang uttered a snide comment, "Ren was a lot richer than I thought."

The tank's turret turned and faced their vehicle, "Whoa watch out!"

The two jumped off as the turret released its round and obliterated their vehicle, Lyserg managed to get away from the blast, but Fenghuang wasn't as lucky, although he wasn't killed he was blown away and knocked unconscious.

Ren suddenly emerged from the tank, and made his announcement to Lyserg, "Mister Diethel! This will be my final challenge to you, whoever wins this confrontation, wins everything!"

"What are you talking about?"

"No more talking, this will be straight-out war!"

Ren dived back to take command of his war machine, and soon the black tank moved closer to crush Lyserg beneath its treads. Lyserg nimbly jumped out of the way.

The tank slowly turned while Lyserg ducked into a nearby hangar to hide out in.

"A tank, of all things, a tank, and all Fenghuang's equipment was lost in that blast. Now what do I do?"

Without warning, his hiding place was blown with another fire from the tank, "You're going to need more than a flimsy wall to save yourself, Mister Diethel!"

Lyserg began running across open space as the tank continued to fire at him, each round only nearly hitting him.

Lyserg disappeared from his sight yet again, Ren began navigating his tank, looking for him, "Diethel! Come out and face me! True heroes do not cower in the face of adversity!"

Ren rammed another wall down, but Lyserg wasn't there. As brave as Ren was, feeling secure inside his steel suit of armor, so to speak, he was feeling somewhat desperate. No man lives without fearing death, not even him, fearless leader of China's greatest economic executive corporation, but most of all, in spite of the fact that he displayed great honor in offering his wife the freedom to love as she pleases, everything about the world is divided in two, and that, even to honorable men, sometimes giving in to one's base desires is more honest than any display of righteousness or courage.

Simply put, Ren was envious; envious at the thought that he was that "someone else" in his wife's life, and that perhaps, Lyserg was that "right one that came along" who suddenly cued in Jeanne of where her life was truly meant to converge towards.

Ren felt confused, but once this battle ends, all of it would be decided, here and now…

Ren looked around carefully, trying to figure out where Lyserg was, taking caution into effect.

His tank patrolled around a little more, seeking out his prey.

"This is getting me nowhere, all right, Diethel, if you won't come out of your hole, I will dig you out myself!"

Ren rammed the wall of another building, however, he did not anticipate that Lyserg was craftier than he thought, and Ren's tank had unexpectedly rolled over a primed landmine.

Once it was caught, the left tread was left inoperable, and the tank was unable to move.

"Damn it! Sneaky weasel…"

Ren was forced to abandon his vessel, and stood looking out from the tank's opening, he turned behind him to see Lyserg, holding an RPG on his shoulders.

"Oh no…"

"Happy Birthday, Mister Tao!"

Lyserg fired the round and struck the rear of the tank, causing it to explode in a cascade of slag and flames. Ren was thrown out a few feet away from the blast zone, landing briskly against the concrete.

Lyserg discarded his weapon and fell to his knees, feeling completely exhausted.

"This is practically the longest day of my career…"

Ren groaned in pain, Lyserg noticed this, and walked towards him.

"Well, Mister Diethel, it looks like you've bested me."

"It looks that way Mister Tao."

"Is it not customary to grant a dying man… his last request?"

"You nearly had my eyes cut out… but very well, as long as it's nothing distasteful."

Ren took out a photo from his pocket, and presented it to Lyserg, "Hardly distasteful."

The photo contained a picture of Jeanne and an infant Men cradled matronly in her arms.

"Please, Lyserg, take care of them for me; I would die with no regrets, knowing that I have at least left them… in honourable hands."

Lyserg examined the picture carefully, and then glanced back at the dying Ren Tao, "Fear not, Mister Tao, I will make certain that your dying wish will not go unfulfilled."

"Thank you… Jeanne will be waiting for you back at the vacation house. Make certain that there will be no regrets, and now… let me rest."

Ren limped and soon fell lifeless; Lyserg closed the dead man's eyelids over, and whispered a silent offering of solace for wherever his soul may be now.

By this time, Fenghuang had awakened from his little rest. They found another vehicle in the port, and rode off back to Bangkok.

Hours later…

Jeanne looked out of her window, gazing at the moon which shone caringly amidst the sea of stars and the darkness of night.

A maid came in, interrupting her contemplation, "Pardon me, Mistress, but there is someone here to see you."

"Bring him here, please."

Jeanne felt a slight pang of worry at what she was about to witness, but as Ren had told her, whoever wins, there would be no regrets.

Lyserg entered the room shortly thereafter, and came face-to-face with Jeanne, who displayed a face of impartial expectation, Jeanne had known all along, it would seem. No words were spoken between them; Jeanne motioned for him to sit at her side on the sofa, to which he complied.

More silence, deafening, cluttered the room, disturbing the peace of intimacy of the people who were held within their ornate walls. Jeanne broke the atmosphere of dead air that fluttered between them, "So… is it over?"

"It would seem that way."

"Did he… say anything?"

Lyserg, feeling that perhaps it would be insulting to respond with the proper reply to such a query, instead stated the next best thing his mind could think, "Nothing, he said nothing."

Jeanne looked away, Lyserg could not make out what her face could tell him most obviously, but it seemed appropriate not to raise his voice for now.

Jeanne suddenly stood up, walked towards a nearby stereo system, and selected some beautiful instrumental music to clear the empty silence of the room.

She then extended her hand out, and beckoned to Lyserg, "_Monsieur Diethel, peut je demandent de me ravir avec une autre danse?_"

(Translated: Monsieur Diethel, may I request to enrapture me with another dance?)

"_Ce serait mon plaisir, Mademoiselle._"

(Translated: It would be my pleasure, Mademoiselle.)

**Author's Notes: I really enjoyed making this story, and this chapter in particular, in any event, there's still an epilogue coming to roll this story's final touches up, so stay tuned Readers.**

**P.S. I had no time to proof-read this chapter, so if any of you find any grammatical, typographical, or other such errors in the sentences, words and phrases, please inform me as soon as you can. Thank you.**


	4. Epilogue and Credits

**Epilogue**

Fenghuang returned to his office in Shanghai, after all that trouble, he needed the rest.

Throwing his coat onto the rack, kicking his shoes off, and taking an ice-cold can of beer, Fenghuang reclined on his chair and breathed in deeply, then stretched and started drinking his aluminum-canned drink.

"You've finally made it back, Fenghuang."

Men suddenly entered the room; Fenghuang seemed expectant of his arrival, however.

"But it was certainly the longest operation I've had."

"I didn't think you would complain about something like that, you practically live for this."

"That I do, but living a long life of intensity can place people on edge."

Men sat down on a nearby chair, and soon the mood between the two Chinamen had turned somber.

"Was it painful, Men, to have had a hand in helping bring about your father's downfall like that?"

"He had to be stopped, Fenghuang, even if that meant killing him."

Fenghuang at first responded with silence, before relaxing his body and mood, "Well, in any event, it looks like our work is done, along with Mister Diethel's, I'll have to look about his company's payment as well, he's done us an admirable service."

"I wouldn't exactly say that our work is complete, from what I've learned, it's far from over."

"What do you mean?"

"It looks like my father was merely one of the key leaders of a larger, apparently global, crime syndicate. His drug-trafficking racket was merely a moderate half of their operations around the planet."

"Oh my, that is troublesome. If they learn we've killed one of their key members, they will be sure to seek retribution."

"That would be their most obvious course of action if they begin to stir again."

"And who would 'they' be? There must be a name for their clandestine enterprise."

"All I know is that they call themselves 'MIRAGE' and that, above all else, we must tread carefully now, who knows how far their web of deceit extends?"

**To be continued…**

**(Possibly, if this story gets a really good reception from the readers.)**

Cast:

(This section is purely of my whimsy, please do not even consider anything about it unless you think it's an interesting topic to talk about, otherwise, think nothing of it.)

In order of appearance:

_O'Shea Jackson (aka Ice Cube)_ as **Chocolove McDonell**

_Johnny Yong Bosch_ as **Lyserg Diethel**

_Tasia Valenza_ as **Meene Montgomery**

_Christopher Corey Smith _as **Fenghuang**

_George Newbern _as **Tao Ren**

_Kathleen McInerney _as **Jeanne**

_Steve Burton _as **Tao Men**

_Bryce Papenbrook_ as **Horokeu Usui**


End file.
